


The Fire Does Not Consume Us

by Fullmetalcarer



Category: X-Men (Alternate Timeline Movies), X-Men (Movieverse)
Genre: Aliens, BAMF Charles, Charles Xavier has a Ph.D in Adorable, Erik Has Feelings, Erik Logic Is The Best Logic, Erik is Crushing Harder than a 12-year Old Girl, Erik is not a Happy Bunny, Happy Ending, Honestly Charles What Are You Thinking, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Multi, Poor Charles, Science Fiction, Suicidal Thoughts, Threesome - F/M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-21
Updated: 2017-12-21
Packaged: 2019-02-15 09:00:21
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,989
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13027683
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fullmetalcarer/pseuds/Fullmetalcarer
Summary: Erik felt a rush of terror and exhilaration and joy. But it wasn't his. He stared down at Charles. Only it wasn't Charles. His face was transformed. He looked glorious and terrifying. An irresistible force pulled Charles from his arms and lifted him into the air. The Shiiar poured into him, a torrent of light and sound, and Charles screamed and arched as though his back would break. Then the light and sound were gone and Charles floated gently down to the deck and curled into the fetal position.





	The Fire Does Not Consume Us

**Author's Note:**

  * For [afrocurl](https://archiveofourown.org/users/afrocurl/gifts).



> Warning for explicit M/M/F.
> 
> Warning for suicidal ideation.

Cold flames licked Charles' body. He kissed and caressed Jean's breasts and sucked and nipped at her nipples. She writhed under his touch and her telepathy surged through them like a forest fire. Erik had his head between her legs and his long fingers splayed across her hips. Sweat darkened the auburn hair at the nape of his neck. Charles was Erik and Jean and the Phoenix. He tasted her sweat and the elusive spiciness of her juices. He felt the hardness of her nipple in his mouth and the hot slide of her clit under his tongue. He was a fountain of energy, rejoicing in the pleasure these frail human bodies could provide. He was she, close now, so close to coming. Charles' telepathy flowed into hers, a river in spate, and flooded them with sensation. Erik did something exceptional with his tongue and Jean's climax whited everything out in a blizzard of bliss.

Charles gradually returned to himself, the tight spiral of their shared consciousness unwinding into something looser. They appeared to be floating a metre above the bed in a tangle of limbs and sweat and come. Jean's hair moved in the currents of her telekinesis like red-gold seaweed. She yawned hugely, a goddess who'd been thoroughly worshipped. Erik opened his eyes, blinked dazedly and scratched absently at his crotch.

Would you mind putting us down, darling?

Oops.

She lowered them gently to the bed. They lay there awhile, enjoying the warmth and closeness. Charles stroked Jean's hair and Erik rested his head on her shoulder. She yawned again, stretched and sat up.

"We can't lie here all day. Diplomacy waits for no one; human, Shiiar or raidaT. I'm going to clean up."

Charles could easily have lain in bed all day. He made a faint noise of protest, but Jean ignored him and clambered out of bed, accidentally kicking Erik in the ribs and kneeling on Charles' hand. She strolled over to the washing area. The raidaT liked their dwellings to resemble their home planet, so the bathroom was a three metre high waterfall surrounded by a profusion of blue-green vegetation, with a huge barrel-shaped blossom serving as a lavatory. The raidaT weren't shy about performing their eliminatory functions in public. Jean stepped under the water, squeezed cleansing oils from a purple flower bud and began washing her hair.

Strong, sinewy arms embraced Charles from behind. He wriggled backwards in their bed of scarlet moss and pressed himself against Erik, who felt hot and solid and sticky. Erik's mind was calm and content on the surface, but roiled with strong currents deep down.

Do you still not trust this? The four of us? The Phoenix?

Why do you ask questions to which you already know the answer?

Why do you answer questions with more questions?

Erik kissed the top of Charles' head.

"Because there are no answers."

Charles made a rude noise.

"Oh, very deep, you pretentious git."

"That's rich, Xavier, you calling me pretentious."

Charles rolled over on top of Erik and went straight for the ticklish spot on his ribs. Erik hated being tickled and fought back viciously. He managed to get Charles pinned. Charles looked up into the face of the man he'd loved since they met at the academy. They were both hard again. Erik rolled his hips, rubbing their cocks together. Charles groaned.

Seriously guys? We're addressing the raidaT commizooR in less than an hour. Go get cleaned up right now.

Jean levitated them off the bed and under the waterfall and switched it to cold for good measure.

* * *

"Students of the Academy, congratulations. Five years ago you were selected as potential Shiiar symbionts. Of the thousands who started this journey, only a hundred remain. You are the brightest and the best of humanity - " 

Except most of us are mutants projected Erik.

Mutants are humans.

Erik tugged on the metal fastenings of Charles' ceremonial tunic. Charles squeaked and swayed. Erik gave him one of his best grins. Charles tried to look offended but couldn't stop smiling. Stars, he looked gorgeous. Erik couldn't believe he'd gone so long without noticing Charles' gorgeousness.

They'd been friends since their first day at the academy. Well, not quite since that first day. Erik had known he'd have to share a room - "If you can't share a room how can you share a consciousness?" - but he was fifteen! He couldn't be expected to share with a thirteen year old kid. A kid who came from a privileged background a million miles away from Erik's humble beginnings and didn't know the first thing about looking after himself. A telepath too. Erik loved all mutations, of course he did, but telepaths, well, they were a bit creepy, poking around in your mind and all. Erik had told him to stay out of his head and had done his best to ignore the brat's pathetic attempts to make friends.

You were horrible to me.

To be fair, you were excessively annoying.

Charles gave him the telepathic equivalent of a shove

I was not. I was lovely. I have always been lovely.

Erik looked at Charles out of the corner of his eye. He was lovely, and not just on the outside. It had taken Erik months to see it, all those years ago, to see past Charles' unthinking arrogance and dangerous idealism to the kind, brave, brilliant person inside. They'd become friends and, on Charles' eighteenth birthday, lovers. Not that they hadn't done a fair bit of fooling around before that, but Erik had wanted to wait to make it "official". Charles had called him a "sweet, old-fashioned thing".

He was lovely and Erik loved him.

Charles blushed and sent Erik a wave of warmth and a sense memory of the activities that had almost made them late for the most important day of their lives. Now it was Erik's turn to blush.

" - and remember, even if you are not chosen, it is a great achievement and a great honour to have made it this far. Command informs me the Shiiar are one minute away. Let us await them in respectful silence and eager anticipation."

One minute away. Erik felt sick to his stomach. He'd never doubted he'd be chosen, but . . . but what if he wasn't?

Of course you'll be chosen. Your test scores are sky high, you're top of the class in everything, you're a tactical genius and you have a powerful mutation. You're the ideal candidate. So am I. We'll both be chosen.

He sounded so confident. He always did. Erik eased his powers into Charles' antique watch. It was centuries old but still ticking away, tiny cogs and wheels measuring out the moments of the universe. Erik found it soothing. He concentrated on the metal of the watch, warmed by body heat, and on the warmth of Charles' mind.

Earth, blue and green and pearly with clouds, slowly sank below the horizon of the space station and the stars rose bright against the blackness. They were on the upper deck of the main living and working quarters, protected from vacuum by a forcefield. The whole section rotated to provide gravity.

New stars appeared among the old familiar ones. Stars that didn't spin with the rest of the galaxy. Stars that grew bigger and brighter and headed straight for the academy. 

The Shiiar.

Charles' telepathy rippled like a still pool disturbed by a thrown stone. Erik sank his powers into the superstructure of the station in an effort to ground himself.

The Shiiar paused just beyond the forcefield. Six suns, almost too bright to look at, burning with a myriad of colours. Only six. And there were a hundred candidates. The suns shrank in on themselves, dimmed to a bearable level and coalesced into gigantic, bird-like forms. They passed through the forcefield as though it wasn't there.

Erik staggered as he was hit by the powerful disturbances the Shiiar sparked in the magnetosphere. Emma Frost, another telepathic candidate, flashed into her diamond form. Azazel, a bright red teleporter with a prehensile tail, disappeared in a puff of smoke and reappeared a moment later looking shamefaced.

"I can't do this. They're . . . they're . . . no, no, I don't want to be chosen. This is a mistake," whispered Charles.

Erik broke ranks and grabbed him.

"It's alright, Charles, everything's alright. You'll be fine. We'll be fine. Chosen or not, nothing matters so long we've got each other."

Charles clutched at him.

"Yes, yes, as long as we've got each other, that's all that matters."

The six dazzling, bird-like creatures drew closer. About a dozen candidates turned and ran for the main air-lock. The rest stood firm. Erik glanced up and down the line and wondered if he looked as terrified as everyone else. Charles trembled in his arms and then stilled. Blinding blue light poured down on them. Erik looked up. A Shiiar was floating right above them.

WE ARE LILANDRA AND WE HAVE CHOSEN. WE CHOOSE YOU.

Erik felt a rush of terror and exhilaration and joy. But it wasn't his. He stared down at Charles. Only it wasn't Charles. His face was transformed. He looked glorious and terrifying. An irresistible force pulled Charles from his arms and lifted him into the air. The Shiiar poured into him, a torrent of light and sound, and Charles screamed and arched as though his back would break. Then the light and sound were gone and Charles floated gently down to the deck and curled into the fetal position.

Erik crawled towards Charles; he hadn't even realised he'd fallen to his knees. All around him the candidates who hadn't been chosen sobbed and laughed or remained stoically silent.

Just as Erik reached him, Charles stood up. He looked down at Erik. He smiled. It was the most beautiful smile Erik had ever seen. He touched Erik's hair in benediction, then turned away and walked towards the centre of the deck to join the other Chosen.

Charles Xavier.

Emma Frost.

Elizabeth Braddock.

Ororo Munro.

Armando Munoz.

Moira MacTaggert. A human.

A human had been chosen. A fucking human had been chosen and he hadn't.

Something was lying on the deck. An antique watch. Erik summoned it to his hand. The strap was broken, the face smashed and the hands stopped. Charles had loved that watch so much. Now it was broken and he'd left it behind.

"I guess we've gotta find something else to do with the rest of our lives, eh, Старый друг?"

Azazel was sitting on the deck, tail wrapped round his body, rocking back and forth like a child comforting himself. He kept flickering in and out of existence.

Erik watched the Chosen disappear into the Sanctuary, surrounded by an inner ring of Acolytes and an outer ring of the great and the good. The Acolytes had been the teachers and mentors of the Chosen and now they'd help them adapt to being Shiiar symbionts. The Chosen would spend a year in the Sanctuary and then emerge as emissaries of the Shiiar-Terran coalition. They'd explore the universe, rule solar systems and discover the secrets of creation.

And the ones who weren't chosen?

They'd have to find something else to do with the rest of their lives.

Erik clenched his fist, crushing the watch and driving splinters of glass deep into his palm.

* * *

Holocall: Charles Francis Xavier (most honoured symbiont of Lilandra of the Shiiar) to Erik Magnus Lehnsherr.

Holocall: Auto-blocked by EML.

Holocall: CFX(sLS) to EML.

Holocall: Auto-blocked by EML.

Holocall: Emergency override requested by CFX(sLS). Request granted by Ancillus Main. EML auto-blocking overridden.

"Erik, please listen to us. We - "

"No, you fucking listen to me, Charles, you and that fucking parasite that rides along inside you, leave me alone!"

"We can't. I can't. You - "

"Yes you can. You managed it just fine for a whole year while you were in the Sanctuary. I wanted to see you, I wanted to talk to you, but you wouldn't have anything to do with me."

"You don't understand. We were - "

"You're right, I don't understand, because the other symbionts saw family and friends and partners during the Seclusion, but you didn't. You wouldn't see Raven and you wouldn't see me."

"Lilandra - "

"Lilandra, Lilandra, Lilfuckinglandra. I've done everything I possibly could to show you I don't want you anymore. I refused to meet you. I refused mind-speech. I tried to refuse this fucking call but you abused your power and got Main to holo you into my home.

"We're sorry but - "

"You're not sorry, Charles or Lilandra or Chalandra or whatever the fuck you are, because if you were, you'd stop stalking me. Do you have any respect for me? For what I want? For what I need? Why don't you just overwrite me and make me into your loving little fucktoy?"

"We would never do that! I - "

"Why not? You could have done it when it was just you. You sure as shit can do it now you're the most honoured fucking symbiont of fucking Lilandra of the fucking Shiiar."

"Erik - "

"You claim to love me. If that's true, if you have even the tiniest scrap of love left for me, please, I'm begging you, leave me alone."

The perfectly realised holo of what had once been Charles Francis Xavier and was now something altogether different stood quite still and stared at him with bright blue eyes.

"I don't love you, Charles."

Silence.

Stillness.

"I'm sorry, Erik. We're sorry. We won't bother you again. Goodbye."

Charles hesitated, as though waiting for Erik to say something.

Erik remained silent.

The holo dissipated in a cloud of colour.

Erik had got what he wanted. That was good, wasn't it?

* * *

He dragged himself along the ground. The stones were sharp and icy and night was falling. He was losing blood fast. The wound was massive, running from the top of his head to his groin. He was bleeding red, he was bleeding light, he'd been torn in two and Lilandra was bleeding out of him, out of his body, out of his mind. He screamed.

"Charles! Charles! Wake up! You're dreaming. It's not real. It's just a nightmare."

He opened his eyes. A blur of blue and scarlet and gold resolved into his sister's face.

"It's not just a nightmare. It happened."

His throat was raw from screaming. His voice was little more than a whisper.

"I can't hear you. Drink some water. That's right. Now, what were you saying?"

"Nothing."

There was nothing to say. Nothing to do. Nothing. Lilandra was gone and he was an empty shell. He'd almost died. He wished he had. But they'd recovered his broken body and fixed him up and now he was as good as new and still had his telepathy. Well, not at the moment of course. At the moment he was in quarantine in a military hospital, pumped full of suppressants and nanobots and with several kilos of disruption tech clamped to various bits of his wonderfully healthy body. They'd tried dialling down the power, but had dialled it right back up after half the garrison tried to commit suicide. Quite a few soldiers had managed it. He was sorry for that. It was strange not having his telepathy. Painful. Not as painful as not having Lilandra, but painful enough.

They hadn't wanted Raven to visit, but she'd kicked up a massive fuss and used every Xavier family connection she had and every ounce of clout her stellar VR career had generated to get to see him.

He wished she hadn't. She was a good sister. She didn't deserve a wounded, dangerous thing like him for a brother.

She was talking to him now. Telling him something about some mutant. He had a vague idea he was supposed to remember this person. He'd lost the sense of her words but her voice was pleasant so he nodded along and made agreeable noises.

"So you'll see him?"

Some new physician no doubt. He'd seen so many. Psychiatrists. Psychologists. A psionic specialist. He hadn't meant to hurt the psionic. He'd warned her not to enter his mind. It had been an accident. Charles met his sister's golden gaze. She looked so hopeful, as if she really thought this one could help.

"Alright."

She hugged him. He flinched away. Physical contact without the feel of the other's mind was hideously unnatural. She drew back. What was that look on her face? Was that unhappiness? Hadn't she looked hopeful a moment ago? Everything was so confusing. Why wouldn't they let him die? He kept trying to kill himself and they kept stopping him. They were good at keeping him alive, all the people and all the machines. They thought they were clever, but if they were really clever they'd kill him before he killed them.

Raven was talking to him.

"I'm sorry sis, I didn't get that. Say again."

"Do you want them to let him in?"

Let who in? Oh yes, the new doctor. Charles hoped he wasn't a psionic. Raven didn't need to see that.

"OK."

The huge internal doors slid back and a man in grey fatigues stepped out of the airlock. The doors closed soundlessly behind him. He was tall and narrow waisted and broad shouldered. His hair was short and auburn. His eyes were grey-green. He was handsome. He was . . . he was . . .

"Erik?"

"Charles."

Ten years. It had been ten years since he'd seen Erik. He'd kept an eye on Erik's meteoric rise as an exotic matter engineer, but had never tried to contact him. Charles had kept his promise. Instinctively he reached out for Erik's mind, forgetting he didn't have his telepathy. The emptiness swept through him. He closed his eyes. Make it stop. Make it stop.

"Charles."

Erik. Charles opened his eyes. Erik was standing over him. Charles got to his feet. He'd forgotten Erik had a good fifteen centimetres on him.

"You tall bastard."

Erik snorted. Raven laughed. Charles laughed too. It sounded odd. Not right. He stopped.

"Why are you wearing disruption gear?" said Erik.

"It's to stop me killing everyone. Can you take it off with your powers?"

"No. I'm shot full of suppressants. I feel like shit. If I could take that crap off of you, would you kill everyone?"

"Probably. Accidently. Or maybe on purpose. Things aren't very clear. They've got a contingency plan in case I get my telepathy back and take over the garrison. The AI will blow up this asteroid and everyone on it."

Erik's lips curved into that sharkish smile.

"That's comforting."

"It is, isn't it? I want to die, but in my saner moments I know I don't want to drag the entire universe down with me."

"The entire universe? I doubt you could manage to kill off a single solar system."

"I bloody well could."

"You always were absurdly grandiose."

"You always lacked vision."

Raven made a sound. A distressed sound. He'd upset her. He seemed to do that a lot.

"I thought you were getting better, I really did, but you're not, you're not! Let me out of here! I've got to get out if here!"

She battered on the airlock doors. They opened. They closed. Raven was gone. Truth be told, it was a bit of a relief. It was such hard work keeping up appearances for her. Pretending he was still Charles. He didn't have to pretend for Erik because Erik didn't love him. He'd said so.

Charles slumped onto the floor which helpfully formed a seat beneath him.

He stared at Erik. He looked older, lines around the mouth and eyes and across his forehead. Charles looked much the same as he had ten years ago. This was down to Lilandra slowing his aging process and the cellular regeneration they'd used to fix him.

Erik sat down beside him, not touching thank quantum.

He looked at Charles. Then around the room. Then back at Charles. He said nothing. Nothing to say. Nothing to do. Nothing to say. Nothing to do. Some ancient idea about making conversation surfaced in Charles mind. He was his mother's son in some ways.

"What are you doing here, Erik?"

Hmm, a bit abrupt.

"I wanted to see you. I got an audience with Emma Frost, most honoured symbiont of Summer of the Shiiar. She pulled some strings and here I am."

"Why are you here?"

Erik frowned at him.

"I just told you. I wanted to see you."

"Why?"

Erik looked away.

"I know it was a long time ago, but we used to be . . . close. Something bad happened to you and . . . I wanted to see you."

"Something bad? Something bad? We were exploring an ancient planetary system before its star went nova. All our calculations showed it was quite safe. But it wasn't. Lilandra could have escaped. If they'd separated from me, they could have got away. But they didn't. Lilandra used all their energies to protect me. Somehow they managed to get me to the nearest habitable planet, but even a Shiiar can't survive a supernova unscathed. Lilandra died. Shiiar don't call it death. They call it "expanding into the universe". I call it bullshit. Lilandra died, slowly fading away, trying to protect me to the last. Why did they die, Erik? Why did I live? They should have lived, not me. Not me! NOT ME!"

He was on his feet now, shrieking into Erik's face. His telepathy spiked, fighting the suppressants in his bloodstream, the nanobots in his head and the disruption tech on his body. It was going to break through. The collar whirred and a thread of blood trickled from his nose. He was so close. Then . . . nothing. The emptiness.

Charles tried to drive his nails into his eye-sockets. The cuffs restrained him, forcing his hands to his sides. He threw himself to the floor which cushioned his fall and wrapped him in a warm embrace. Screaming was all he had left, so he screamed and screamed and screamed.

Someone else was screaming. Erik. Erik was sitting on the floor next to him, screaming. He wasn't very good at it.

"Why on earth are you screaming?" croaked Charles.

Erik stopped. He shrugged.

"Just keeping you company."

"You're an idiot."

"I'm not the one being restrained by a carpet."

Charles laughed. A genuine laugh. His first in nine months. He immediately felt guilty because Lilandra was dead and he shouldn't be laughing. He lay there looking up at Erik.

"You have very elegant nostrils. Nice and clean too."

Erik grinned.

"Thank you."

The floor decided Charles' vital signs indicated he'd calmed down. It released him. The cuffs relaxed their grip. He sat up. 

"I want to die, Erik."

"Yes."

"They won't let me. My fellow humans would quite happily kill me, I'm rather a worry to them you see, but the Shiiar won't let them. Lilandra died to save me so I must live. I never realised they were so cruel."

"I did."

How lovely were Erik's eyes.

"I know what you want to ask even without my telepathy. Go on. Ask."

"Why wouldn't you see me after you were Chosen? Why didn't you communicate with me for a whole year?"

Charles sighed. It all seemed so long ago. Pointless to go over these things. Lilandra was dead and meaning had died with them. Poor Erik. He looked calm, but he'd always been good at covering up his feelings and, without his telepathy, Charles hadn't a clue what he was thinking.

"Symbiosis is usually a gradual process. That's one of the reasons the new symbionts spend a year in the Sanctuary. It gives time for the bond to strengthen and stabilise. The bond between Lilandra and I was immediate and dangerously strong. It was a threat to Lilandra's dimensional stability. They thought it might be because my telepathy was so powerful. There was some talk of breaking the bond, which would have killed me, but Lilandra wouldn't let them. Lilandra risked their own wellbeing to save me and maintain the bond. Oh, we were alright in the end, but it was touch and go for much of that year and we spent most of it in strict seclusion."

Erik's eyes were bright.

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"I tried to. You wouldn't listen. Oh, I don't blame you. We hurt you so badly. We killed your love."

"You didn't. Why do you think I'm here? I love you."

Charles stared into Erik's face. He didn't understand what he saw there. Erik still loved him? After all this time?

"I'm sorry you love me, Erik. It can only cause you pain. It makes no difference, you see. Lilandra is still dead. I'm still broken. I'm going to kill myself and maybe a lot of other people too, that's if the Shiiar don't change their minds and have me put out of my misery."

Erik started laughing.

"You arrogant fucker. You always thought you knew what was best for other people and now you've decided I mustn't love you. Fuck you, Xavier, fuck you, you condescending, patronising asshole."

Erik leant forward and wrapped his arms around Charles and held him close. He tucked Charles' head under his chin and rubbed his jaw on Charles' hair. It felt wrong. It felt weird. Charles didn't like it, but he supposed he could bear it. Compared to the emptiness it was a minor wound. Erik was sensible. He was smart. He'd soon realise he was wasting his time and leave Charles alone.

Charles had forgotten how stubborn Erik was.

* * *

Jean Grey, most honoured symbiont of the Phoenix of the Shiiar, was nervous.

THEY WILL BE HONOURED TO ACCEPT OUR OFFER.

She rolled her eyes. Sometimes the Phoenix seemed all knowing. Sometimes they didn't have a clue.

They were back at the Academy after spending two years on Ascemi-zyl-Zattr, brokering a peace deal between ancient enemies. Jean had averted system-wide warfare on her twenty-first birthday. It'd been a victory, but it'd felt hollow. Something had been missing. On the ship back to Earth she'd had a series of vivid, erotic dreams, like nothing she'd ever known. And she/they had realised what they/she needed.

She walked briskly towards the teachers' accommodation block. Earth filled most of the "sky" above her. She never got tired of that view.

Students and teachers and functionaries crowded the corridors inside the block. They tried not to stare at her. She was used to being stared at. Her combination of strong telepathy and stronger telekinesis had always frightened people. They gazed at her with almost religious awe and terror now she was the Phoenix.

They/she headed for the senior professors' accommodation. Thank the stars it was a bit quieter here.

This was the apartment. No need to be nervous. They were a Shiiar-human symbiont. One of the most powerful beings in the universe. She/they could do this. The Phoenix bathed her in rightness and need.

Jean? Phoenix? Is that you? Where are you?

Right outside your door, professor.

What a wonderful surprise. And it's "Charles". I'm not your mentor or Acolyte anymore. Come in, come in.

The door slid open and Charles was standing there looking absolutely delighted.

"Jean, you look wonderful. And what great work you did on Ascemi-zyl-Zattr. I'm so proud of you. Would a hug be in order?"

"Yes please."

He embraced her/them. She was always surprised by him being shorter than her. His hair smelt good. His arms felt strong.

"Welcome to our home, Jean, most honoured symbiont of the Phoenix of the Shiiar," said a deep voice.

Erik.

Charles pulled her towards Erik.

"Look, Erik, look. It's Jean."

Erik smiled, fond and amused.

"Yes, I can see that, Charles."

"How about a hug from you?" she/they asked.

He hesitated, then took her in his arms. His height and broad shoulders made her feel pleasantly enfolded. He released her.

"I'm making latkes. Want some?"

"Please."

She and Charles sat and talked, out loud and telepathically, while Erik rustled up the latkes. Charles was full of questions about Ascemi-zyl-Zattr. Erik plonked bowls of sour cream and applesauce and a heaped plate of latkes in front of them. He summoned some cutlery, but Charles and Jean were already digging in, ignoring burnt fingers and good manners alike.

"Barbarians," muttered Erik, then did exactly the same.

Jean leant back in her chair, feeling warm and full and rather greasy. The Phoenix radiated contentment. Erik and Charles were squabbling over the last latke. She'd missed them so much; her teachers, her mentors, her friends. She couldn't imagine what it must have been like for Charles, losing Lilandra. She couldn't imagine what it had been like for Erik, hanging on as Charles teetered on the edge of the abyss. The ancient thing that was her and not-her knew some wounds never healed.

She/they stood up. Her feet left the floor and tendrils of flame coiled around her body and flickered through her hair.

Jean? Jean! What is it? What's - 

WE ARE THE PHOENIX. WE ARE JEAN. YOU ARE OUR CHOSEN CONSORTS. WILL YOU CHOOSE US?

* * *

The raidaT weren't the easiest people to deal with. At the end of a long day Erik was ready to gut the lot of them. They walked back to their dwelling in the dark, holding hands and enjoying the quiet. Erik collapsed face down on the moss bed. The fucking raidaT could go fuck themselves. He sighed. He wasn't cut out for diplomacy. Their next mission had better be scientific or he'd rebel. Stars, he was bone weary.

Warmth flooded his body and mind. He lifted his head. Jean and Charles were naked under the waterfall. Jean was washing Charles' hair. Water and flame streamed over their pale bodies. Charles' cock was red and half hard. Suds clung to Jean's nipples.

Erik didn't feel so tired anymore.


End file.
